Negus: Current affairs shows should shape up
Veteran reporter frowns upon "froth and bubble" being passed off as TV current affairs.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News
Current affairs producers need to “clean themselves out a bit and take a good look at themselves,” says George Negus.
The veteran reporter says what passes for current affairs these days isn’t his idea of what news is in his book.
You’re not wrong there, George.
Of 60 Minutes he said, “I have a disappointment rather than a criticism – it’s a bit too much like a long A Current Affair.
“And I’m not too sure how they define current affairs these days.
“I’m not sure if it’s all just sort of stuff. It’s not my idea of current affairs, that doesn’t make it wrong, it’s just not my idea.”
The Dateline host said many commercial television executives were underestimating the intelligence of the audience by trying to pass off stories like celebrity fad diets as current affairs, and were too reliant on ratings.
“They need to get clear and decide that there’s certain things that are just not current affairs – they are froth and bubble.”
Negus, who this week hinted at retirement in the near is certainly working the publicity circle.
SBS’ Dateline returns from Sunday February 8 at 8.30pm.
Source: Herald Sun
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- Tagged with 60 Minutes, A Current Affair, Dateline
16 Responses
I get most of my news from newspapers, which i read almost daily, but there is an increasing trend for non-news stories like aca and tt.
GuanoLad and Chris I thoroughly agree! – I officially made the switch to Seven News a couple of weeks ago in the wake of the whole saga as to whether or not to give Mark Ferguson the boot – So I officially made the switch in protest of that, however I have been absolutely astounded by the sheer lack of quality journalism on Seven News, especially considering they’re the leaders of news and current affairs in this country! – Seven News is so poor, I have listened to Nine and have ‘changed back’… It’s nice to know how low Seven’s priorites are! – They tonight, favoured a story on a lame ass woman who’s trying to find some ‘prince’ whom she met last week, over the Granville disaster! – What an absolute, and utter disgrace! – Nine haven’t even sunk that low!
i have absolutely no problem with tabloid/magazine shows, i just get annoyed when a network passes them as current affairs.
ACA should really change its name and just admit that it is a trashy (not entirely in a bad way) show, it would shutup a lot of criticizers and might even get some new consistent viewers.
I view TT and ACA as pure entertainment rather than serious journalism. They provide more laughs than so-called comedies like 2.5 men.
totally agree tt and aca are more like a tv versions of womens day (fad diets, celeb gossipshopping bargins etc. when there so many more import issues, such as politics(other than political scandals), the fighting between Israel and Gaza, the crisis in Zimbabwe……. the list goes on and on.
The majority of the time i see the first bit of an introduction to a story on these shows, i shake my head at how low they have sunk.
Excuse me while i say this………don’t watch these shows, people. They will go away or increase in quality if you switch off after the news, not just leave them on (or watch them…)
The only reason I want those “current affairs” shows to continue is to watch The Chaser rip on them weekly. Otherwise, they are a complete waste of time.
Lol Chris, reminds me of HIMYM where Robin had to say lots of bad puns while reading the news reports.
Bring back Derryn!
I think the closest thing to a current affairs show on todays TV is the 730 Report, except of course the ABC’s absolute fascination (and overkill) with President Elect Obama could be helping it loose ground.
Sorry about this David a bit of off topic nonsense about George, poor old George had the unfortunate or fortunate (if one likes or dislikes Mr Negus) job of interviewing the British PM Margaret Thatcher during her tenure, he commented that people in the streets were calling for her resignation, “who are they, name them” responded Thatcher, all all the great thing George did I remember that.
@GuanoLad: Right on! Seven News is turning into Today Tonight. It seems that every week they’ve managed to discover some new conspiracy that could be putting us at risk. “Seven News lifts the lid on Sydney’s dodgy schools. Is your child drinking poisoned milk?”
Don’t forget those shonky builders ripping off those terrified old pensioners!! There seems to be one of those every day. I can’t wait for The Chaser’s to come back to to tear these shows a new one
The producers of both shows shoud drop their heads in shame.
Both shows copy each other and repeat the same stories every week.
The hosts should be embarrassed as well, they want to be seen as professionals but hosting this garbish justs puts them below a saleman in terms of respectabilty.
I agree 100% with George.
I wonder what George thinks of opinion appearing on what ought to be unbiased news shows. It’s creeping in to Seven News (check out some of the descrptive terms they use for certain kinds of events or people), and it’s nefarious if it gets too far.
And lets not forget the regular stories about how to save money on something… conclusion is always “shop around”. Mmmm… And of course, the regular “if you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything” about ordinary people (usually mums) making money with a different idea.
Yes, I agree with above, I would be interested to know what actually constitutes a “current affair” these days. Very sick of everything dumbed down.
I agree with Georgie. A Current Affair and Today Tonight are nothing like they used to be. In their heyday, these shows provided in-depth reports of events that happen that day. Now you have to put up with stories about dodgy salesman, weight-loss miracles, the best deals on everything, etc. Producers of both shows should lift their game.